Delayed opening safe doors

ABSTRACT

A safe door with part of its insulation cut away adjacent its locking mechanism, which includes dialing and locking portions, to define an interior recess. A timer is mounted in the recess with its winding handle extending through the metal exterior of the safe door. An associated locking bar is slidably mounted in said recess intermediate said timer and locking mechanism and adapted to be slidably operable by winding said timer to independently immobilize the locking portion of said locking mechanism for a period of time after the winding handle is released from winding.

Melancon [451 July 16,1974

[ DELAYED OPENING SAFE DOORS Primary Examiner-James R. Boler [76] Inventor: Leland J. Melancon, 5243 Canal Assistant Examiner-WM Chan Blvd Harvey La 70124 Attorney, Agent, or FzrmJames B. Lake, Jr. 22 Filed: Nov. 7, 1972 21 Appl. No; 304,444 [57] ABSTRACT A safe door with part of its insulation cut away adja- [52] U 8 Cl 70/268 cent its locking mechanism, which includes dialing [511 In. .0 15/00 and locking portions, to define an interior recess. A timer is mounted in the recess with its winding handle [58] Field of Search 70/268, 269, 267 extending through the metal exterior of the safe door [56] References Cited An associated locking bar is slidably mounted in said recess intermediate said timer and locking mechanism UNITED STATES PATENTS and adapted to be slidably operable by winding said 1,998,201 4/1935 Miller 70/269 timer to independently immobilize the locking portion Mlnlce of mechanism a of time after the winding handle is released from winding.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Q 2 e o l8 /LQ a 2o O a g DELAYED OPENING SAFE DOORS The invention relates generally to safe doors and more particularly to delayed-opening safe doors.

It is old in the art to provide clock operated locking mechanism for a safe door. A time of opening is appropriately set on a clock attachment before closing an associated safe door. This time is not changeable while the door remains closed and is the only time at which the safe door is openable. This solution is used on bank vaults and is expensive. Somewhat less expensive but requiring factory installation is a solution that locks the dialing portion of a locking mechanism and prevents dialing an opening combination until the passage of some convenient time interval has expired.

It is an object of the invention to provide an independent locking bar, operable by winding a timer and pinning its locking handle, to immobilize safe door lock bars in locking position for a period of time after said winding handle is released from pinning.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for preventing the opening of a safe for a given period of time after the opening combination is dialed and thereby prevent a robbery.

A further object of the invention is to provide a safe door through which valuables may be deposited in an associated safe without opening, but cannot be removed without a time delayed opening of said safe door.

Other objects of the invention and a morecomplete understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description, claims and drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an interior view of a safe door with the invention installed,

FIG. 2 is an exterior view of the safe door of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, a safe door has had a portion of its interior insulation 12 removed, and a timer 14 fixed in the resulting cavity 16. A timer winding handle 17 projects through a hole defined in safe door 10 for winding the timer from the exterior of the safe when the door is closed. An independent locking bar 18 is slidably mounted below said timer I4 and is connected thereto for sliding into juxtaposition with an interior portion 19 of safe door locking mechanism 20, that also includes an exterior dialing portion 22 and an exterior door opening handle 24 (see FIG. 2) fixed to said interior portion 19. Locking bar 18 is actuated by winding said timer with winding handle 17 to move downward into position shown in FIG. 1. Handle 17 is locked in place by a pin 26 being inserted through a hole defined in said handle into a recess defined in the exterior of the door and in line with said hole in handle 17 when timer is fully wound. When pin 26 is withdrawn releasing timer handle 17, the winder and winding handle is actuated by its spring mechanism (not shown) after a time delay to retract locking bar 18 clear of interior portion 19 and thereby permit its rotation to unlock the door locking mechanism by dialing a correct combination of numbers on dial 22 and turning operating handle 24 attached to said interior portion 19 to retract safe door lock bars 28 attached thereto.

A slot 30 is cut in the safe door for the deposit of money and valuables in the safe without the necessity of opening the doorv To operate the invention, the safe door is first closed and locked by its door locking mechanism 20. The

timer handle is then rotated clockwise to fully wound position as shown in FIG. 3, the winding causing the locking bar 18 to move downward into position shown in FIG. 1. The pin is inserted through the hole in handle 17 and into a recess thereunder to hold the winding handle in wound position and the locking bar 18 in locking position. When the safe is to be opened, the pin 26 is pulled releasing the winding handle and spring mechanism (not shown) of the timer and a time delay period is begun that is ended when the handle 17 reaches the position delineated on FIG. 3 by the first gradation mark shown thereon. At that point and not before locking bar 18 is slidably actuated upward by the timer spring mechanism to release interior portion 19 for clockwise rotation. The safe door can now be opened by its regular locking mechanism 20 by dialing the correct combination and turning handle 24. It is believed that the enforced delay before the door can be opened will discourage a robber who has forced an employee to give him the dial combination from waiting around and also from otherwise harming the employee who has not any power to open the safe sooner.

What is claimed is:

1. In a conventional safe, an optionally delayed opening safe door having conventional door locking mechanism of associated exterior dialing portion and door opening handle, and interior portion and locking mechanism, and comprising: timer means mounted on the interior of said door and spaced from said interior portion, said timer means having a winding means extending operably through said door for exterior manipulation independently of said conventional door locking mechanism to wind when desired said timer means to run for a predetermined period of time; means for locking and releasing said winding means in and from a wound state independently of said conventional door locking mechanism; and locking bar means mounted on said timer means and in alignment with said interior portion and extending therebetween and adapted to engage said conventional interior portion against moving by manipulation of its associated exterior dialing portion and door opening handle when said door is locked thereby andsaid timer means is wound, and to disengage from said interior portion to allow movement thereof by said associated exterior dialing portion and door opening handle when said timer means is not wound, whereby said delayed opening door is operable with and without winding said timer means to open with and without a time delay as predetermined at time of winding.

2. Method of optionally delaying for a desired period the opening of a safes door having conventional door locking mechanism, comprising the steps: mounting independently operable timer means and associated locking bar in said door adapted for engaging and disengaging said conventional door locking mechanism; closing and locking said door with said conventional door locking mechanism; optionally activating said associated locking bar by winding said timer means to engage said conventional door locking mechanism against unlocking and opening; locking said timer means against unwinding until safe door is to be opened: and independently unlocking said timer means to unwind and disengage at the end of said period said locking bar from said conventional locking mechanism. 

1. In a conventional safe, an optionally delayed opening safe door having conventional door locking mechanism of associated exterior dialing portion and door opening handle, and interior portion and locking mechanism, and comprising: timer means mounted on the interior of said door and spaced from said interior portion, said timer means having a winding means extending operably through said door for exterior manipulation independently of said conventional door locking mechanism to wind when desired said timer means to run for a predetermined period of time; means for locking and releasing said winding means in and from a wound state independently of said conventional door locking mechanism; and locking bar means mounted on said timer means and in alignment with said interior portion and extending therebetween and adapted to engage said conventional interior portion against moving by manipulation of its associated exterior dialing portion and door opening handle when said door is locked thereby and said timer means is wound, and to disengage from said interior portion to allow movement thereof by said associated exterior dialing portion and door opening handle when said timer means is not wound, whereby said delayed opening door is operable with and without winding said timer means to open with and without a time delay as predetermined at time of winding.
 2. Method of optionally delaying for a desired period the opening of a safe''s door having conventional door locking mechanism, comprising the steps: mounting independently operable timer means and associated locking bar in said door adapted for engaging and disengaging said conventional door locking mechanism; closing and locking said door with said conventional door locking mechanism; optionally activating said associated locking bar by winding said timer means to engage said conventional door locking mechanism against unlocking and opening; locking said timer means against unwinding until safe door is to be opened: and independently unlocking said timer means to unwind and disengage at the end of said period said locking bar from said conventional locking mechanism. 